I am proud of the community the Green Building Pro team has built and even more proud to be part of the team that created this social media site. This community was conceptualized while we were in the process of re-building our home in Santa Barbara, CA, three years ago.

We wanted to go green, but neither our architect nor contractor had any green experience. Clearly we were green, but in the sustainable sense of the word. So, while setting forth on our ambitious project, we were faced with an amazing array of choices. It became clear to us as a team that we needed a place to go in order to find all the products that could fit in our project. Nothing was available, either local or online.

While our home won an award for green building, the size of the project uses more energy and we are always looking for new innovative ideas on reducing our carbon footprint. As individuals and a company we are looking towards inviting more product innovation and creative design to make our lives simpler and energy efficient.

We as a team at Green Building Pro feel that we have a corporate social responsibility and a duty towards the stewardship of the earth. Additionally we have the desire to create jobs and make some money. I know we can all make it happen if we work collaboratively in the new decade.

While having attended GreenBuild 2009, we want to carry on the momentum throughout the year with our virtual conference and trade show in April. This is a completely interactive event that allows everyone free admittance and access to green building professionals. With live sessions and Q&A you can keep up with all things green from your desktop as well as access to all the new innovations in green building technology.

I look forward to chatting with you in our social media community over the new year and taking the time to meet you in person! Be sure to check out our predictions and wishes for the green-year and leave your comments as well. We welcome you to our green building family and can’t wait to watch the year unfold with all things green. [ Join me in the Green Building Pro community ]

Jenica Egan
Editor in Chief
Green Building Pro
Follow us on Twitter @buildgreenpro

It's a new year which, for many, means it is time to make predictions or resolutions. At Green Building Pro we are no different, and so our dedicated editorial staff has been busy compiling an encouraging list of predictions for the new year. We were interested in guessing where green construction practices, uses of green materials and simple ways to incorporate green living in our daily lives would expand in the new year and the decade to come. Below we have put together our top 10 predictions which are by no means meant to be THE definitive list. In fact, we are very much looking forward to your comments, discussions and additions to the list. We have even launched a new sub group in our community to foster the collaboration. Happy new year from Green Building Pro.

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The argument against the obsession with efficiency
One of the most prevalent words in recent conversation has been efficiency. Simply put, efficiency can be understood as the ability to accomplish more output with less input. Seems like a good goal, but unfortunately it can be an illusion. The root of the false impression is that efficiency means nothing unless it is within the context of a system. For instance, an efficient eater would not be a good person with whom to share a meal.

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This August, the University of California, Santa Barbara’s Bren Hall, which houses the Donald Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, earned a Platinum certification under the US Green Building Council’s LEED for Existing Buildings (EB) rating system. Upon its original construction in 2002, Bren Hall had achieved LEED Platinum based on its design and the sustainable attributes of the building components themselves. The most recent award earned the high-performance structure the distinction of being the first anywhere to have achieved Platinum (the highest rating offered by the USGBC) under both LEED for New Construction and LEED-EB. The certification is a welcome confirmation that the laboratory facility’s original design goals of optimizing energy and water efficiency are being realized, and is likely the first of many similar cases in the green building movement.

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New Review: “From the mind of greenbuilding.com and Green Remodeling: Changing the World One Room at a Time, David Johnston brings us a new reference guide for sustainable home construction. Along with Scott Gibson, a freelance writer and contributing editor of Fine Homebuilding magazine, they have crafted a resource anyone can pick up and benefit from. Divided into chapters such as Green Building Basics, Framing, and Insulation, the guide is both easy to use and informative in its depth.

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The green building movement is continually gaining momentum as seen by the excitement and turnout at the USGBC's 2009 GreenBuild Conference and Expo in Phoenix, AZ. The Green Building Pro team spent three days speaking with industry professionals and green building experts about everything green. With over 1,000 exhibitors and 27,000 attendees, this was the place to learn about new technologies, exciting new ideas in sustainable design and check out what's hot in green building. While the economy may be down, clearly the great turnout at GreenBuild shows that the green movement continues to gain a wider audience. If you missed the show or want to relive the action and excitement check out the first in our series of video’s from GreenBuild 2009.

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Whether you are a city official, university president, park ranger or private company manager, BigBelly will work perfectly in your environment. As the world's first and only solar-powered cordless trash compaction system, BigBelly has created a proven, cost effective and environmentally conscious way to manage trash collection.

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Last week the Governor of the Golden State gave his final State of the State Address before a joint session of the California Legislature. In this address he laid out plans to spend $500 million on workforce training to create an estimated 100,000 jobs in addition to other measures to stimulate our struggling economy and slow the unemployment rate. Doing the math, this seems like quite a price to pay for new jobs.

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In the GreenBuildingPro resources directory you have a wealth of information at your fingertips. You will find links to all kinds of resources including green builders, designers, architects, and events. There are also links to other websites that are focused on green products and technologies.

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